Hair care
A year and a half natural.
I am so sorry… I did not realize that I haven’t submitted an entry in a year. I promised to have a post up soon explaining how my hair journey is going. Above you will find an array of pictures showing the stages of my hair journey.
Feeling Claustrophobic
“So what do you plan on doing to your hair?” This question has been asked from day one. At first I expected these type of question (Why did you cut your hair?, What made you decide to go natural?…) from family and friends but I just assumed that they would adjust and accept that I am no longer using chemicals to alter my hair. Apparently I was wrong, I’ve been natural for eight months and this question has occurred more frequently. When I respond by saying: I plan on letting my hair grow. They can’t seem to accept that as an answer. Believe me my curly fro is always intact when I step outside. I spend extra time in the morning applying products and shaping my fro so I look presentable. Maybe I should explain when I say “I plan on letting me hair grow” , maybe I should say: “Honestly I don’t know what I am going to do with my hair. I am getting to know my hair and I am enjoying the journey. I don’t know what my hair is going to look like when it becomes longer. But, as time passes and my hair starts to show some length I’ll start to look into styles.” What I really want to say is: What is it to you? I know that’s mean but I’m starting to get annoyed. One of the reasons I went natural was because I wanted to be free from the type cast society places on people.
Have you ever noticed, especially in the United States, that we categorize things we do not understand? For example hair type casting, there are hair types 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as A, B and C. Why is it that my hair has to be a number and letter to be part of the natural hair community? It’s like if you don’t have the right hair combination you are not allowed into the club. Basically a hair type tool used to help people take care of their hair has become a hindrance. We placed limits on the tool created to help us. We divided the hair type casting into the best and worst hair type. 1 and A type hair being the best and 4 and C type hair being the worst. Everything in between is okay because it’s closer to type 1 and heaven forbid you have different hair types on your head. I have 3C/4A hair. So I can’t be part of the type 3 hair group because I have type 4 hair. Ladies we have to do better. Did you know that no two individuals have the same hair texture? You might have similar hair texture with a group of people but it’s not identical.
I’m tired of feeling like I have to be placed in a box to be accepted. I am different, I am special, and I am one of a kind. So to be categorized into a hair group is ridiculous. So the next time someone tries to place me in a “box” by asking “What do you plan on doing to your hair?” or “What is your hair type” I’m going to respond by saying “I don’t know.”
7 Natural Hair Myths Revealed
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If your hair is naturally kinky, coily, curly or wavy, you’ve probably heard your share of hair myths and half-truths. It comes with the territory! Most of us know that “100-strokes-a-day” is flat wrong and split ends can’t be permanently repaired, but there are others still floating around. Do you recognize any of these common myths.
Entering the TWA Stage…
I can’t 
believe that it has been six months since I did my big chop. My hair has grown substantially I have transitioned from the BC to the TWA. Now that I am at the TWA stage I find myself becoming impatient with my hair. My hair is long… just not long enough to style. I should correct myself; my hair is long enough for extensions. I recently removed box braids from my hair. The braids were nice but I wasn’t happy with the braider who braided my hair. She originally asked me if I wanted her to braid past my natural hair and I said yes… when I got home I found several braids that weren’t braided past my hair. (I only have three inches of hair!) Within a couple of days the braids in the back where coming out. What I was most upset about was that I tipped her $20. I can’t stand when you’re paying for a service and the person who provides the service is lazy. So I removed the braids after five weeks that style could have lasted me six to eight weeks.
So now I’m back to the TWA. I researched the TWA stage and found out that this stage can last 1-2 years depending on your curl pattern and shrinkage. Since hair grows an average of six inches in a year and my hair shrinks about 50% I’m just going to concentrate on caring for my hair. I’ll continue deep conditioning and applying leave-in whenever my hair is dry. Once my hair becomes a little longer I will start to experiment with two strand twist and braid-outs.
Time to get Creative
During the winter months I tend to get bored so I like to concoct new hair products from old products. Recently I created a shampoo that cleanses my scalp but conditions my hair at the same time. After I shampoo my hair, it tends to feel like straw but conditioners or co-washing don’t get my scalp and hair clean enough so I add water to my shampoo so I can get my scalp clean and my hair doesn’t feel stripped. But I think I found an alternative. All I did was add coconut oil into my shampoo. I added two parts shampoo into an empty bottle and added one part liquified unrefined coconut oil into the same bottle. Unrefined coconut oil will solidify during colder months so you have to warm the oil either by stove top or microwave. I just scooped out about a table-spoon of coconut oil and placed it in a plastic container and popped it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. After the oil liquified (make sure to check the oil to see that it’s not bubbling, remember this is going on your scalp!) add the oil into the shampoo. My favorite shampoo is from Aubrey Organics it’s all natural and my favorite part it’s cheap. Aubrey Organics shampoo color is brown, when I added the coconut oil into the shampoo, the color changed from brown to caramel. I shampooed my hair twice to make sure I removed any product build up. I was happy with the results, my hair was softer after I shampoo with my new mixture compared with when I shampoo with two parts shampoo one part water. I hope this inspires you to get creative give this a try too also some other concoctions!
Time Flies When You’re Having Fun
It has been three months since I big chopped. Even though it has only been three months it feels like I’ve been natural for so much longer. Recently I was looking at my pictures albums on facebook from over the years and I did a double take and said to myself “oh, that’s right I had a relaxer”. Looking at those pictures I realized that I was relaxing my hair for twenty years and during that whole time I only liked one hair style. I told myself that chapter is closed and that it’s time to move forward.
With that being said my hair is a TWA (teeny-weeny afro) the sides have grown in and the top is really curly. I have adopted a new motto “embrace the shrinkage”, my hair is curly so I won’t be able to show the world my length which is fine by me I think of my hair length as my little secret. I should tell you that I have one strand on my head that is bone straight, I remember as a child asking my mother why my hair wasn’t naturally straight like my classmates. When she sat me down and explained to me why my hair was different she forgot to mention that I would have straight hair, it would just be gray and in the front of my hairline. Can you image a two-inch gray hair that loves to stand straight up in the air; while the rest of your hair is neatly coiled and is laying flat? I tell my gray strand every morning that it’s disrespectful and when I find my shears it will be gone! Okay I’m done ranting…
I am starting to see my hair pattern and the density of my strands. I have curly coily hair that is fine to medium density.My favorite pastime is playing in my hair; Yes, I suffer from HIHS (Hand In Hair Syndrome). I’ve learned you can go broke buying hair products because it seems that my hair is similar to my personality. The longer my hair gets the more it likes to change its mind. At one moment my hair will be in love with a product and the next it gets bored and is ready to move on to something else. Just like my personality my hair has expensive taste; I found that my hair loves Curl Junkie Products. Since my hair is short the price doesn’t really bother me. A 12oz bottle of Curl Junkie Beauticurls Argan & Olive Oil Daily Hair Conditioner might run me $19 but it will last me at least six months.
Time flies when you are having fun, I’ve enjoyed every moment of my natural hair journey. I’m embracing my shrinkage, finding staple hair products and enjoying playing with my curls. What I have learned is that what I enjoy the most is taking this journey one day at a time.
Related articles
- Natural Hair Myths, Fibs and Fairytales (songstressa.wordpress.com)
What’s a Girl to do?
With summer coming to an end and my hair beginning to grow out, I find myself asking this question lately. In my previous blog post “The Good Hair Day Remedy” I discussed why temperature, humidity and dew point is so important for curly or natural hair. Now I’m questioning what am I supposed to do with my hair in the winter months? In the summer were trying to protect our hair from all the moisture in the air, I find it comical that we have the opposite problem in the winter. In the winter, at least on the east coast, there isn’t any moisture in the air other than when snows.
I am anxious about my first winter with natural hair. In the past during the winter months my hair was miserable; I suffer from dry scalp during this time and believe me I have tried every dry scalp remedy. Hot oil treatment, hair streamer, oiling my scalp with ever and any natural oil but nothing seems to work. My hair also becomes extremely dry because of the lack of moisture in the air and when I apply a thick creamy leave in these types of products tends to weigh my hair down. So I walk around with white flakes and oil hair, so not attractive! I read an article that stated that newly naturals, who did the Big Chop, have to start detangling after their hair grew out three inches. Guess who’s going to have three inches just in time for winter? Me!
So here’s my plan I’m going to wait until October and then I’m going to start researching what types of products I need to use and start buying samples to try on my hair to help me during this dreadful season. I have to remind myself that this is part of my journey and once I figure out how to make my hair look and feel great during the winter months I have reached this goal. Am I the only one feeling anxious about the effects winter has on natural hair?
Related articles
- The Good Hair Day Remedy (mmaybury.wordpress.com)
- 7 Things That Deplete Moisture From Natural Hair (forallwomentoknow.blogspot.com)
- Treat Dry Hair With This Easy DIY Mask (bellasugar.com)
The Good Hair Day Remedy
Recently I downloaded an app for my Android from NaturallyCurly.com called Curls on the Go. What I love about this app, other than the wealth of information, is that it is able to tell me the temperature, humidity and dew point for my location, what that means for my hair (optimal or frizzy hair day) and what type of products I should use to have an optimal hair day. I thought to myself this is fantastic I will never have a bad hair day again, especially since my hair has started to grow and the products I used to use are just not working anymore. I knew what temperature and humidity was from experience. I know if the weather man says today will be 100 degrees with 90% humidity it’s going to be a nasty day. But I didn’t understand what a dew point was and how that affected my hair.
What I have found is the temperature, humidity and dew point can be the difference between and good or bad hair day and why humectants and anti humectants are important.
Relative Humidity is vapor pressure of water in the air at a specific time versus the saturated vapor pressure of water at that temperature. The saturated vapor pressure for water changes substantially with temperature; so as the temperature increases or decreases the value of relative humidity changes even if overall water content in the air remains unchanged. How does humidity affect hair? Well hair is largely hydroscopic, meaning it is able to exchange water molecules with moist or dry air. While dry air will drive water molecules from your hair into the environment, humidity has the opposite effect on hair. The hydroscopic nature of hair during humidity will prompt absorption of airborne moisture, which in turn causes swelling of the hair–as much as 16 percent of the diameter in high humidity. High Humidity is any percentage above 45 to 50.
Curly hair tends to be dry and therefore vulnerable to humid air. It simply wants to soak up moisture. This causes cuticles to expand, which causes frizz. The secret to keeping frizz at bay involves moisture, moisture, moisture. To keep hair properly moisturized, you need a few hair products including: non-sulfate shampoo, a leave-in conditioner, a deep conditioner and a styling product involving silicone.
Dew Point is the temperature at which the air can no longer hold all of its water vapor, and some of the water vapor must condense into liquid water. The dew point is always lower than (or equal to) the air temperature. While relative humidity is (as its name suggests) a relative measure of how humid the air is, the dew point temperature is an absolute measure of how much water vapor is in the air. In very warm, humid conditions, the dew point temperature often reaches 75 to 77 degrees F, and sometimes exceeds 80 degrees. No matter how hot the temperature gets, a dew point temperature of (say) 75 deg. F always represents the same amount of water vapor in the air. How does dew point affect hair? I have provided a chart that illustrates how dew point affects hair and what you can do to combat the affects.
Dew Point Below 15 F: Very Dry. Use as much moisture and emollients as your hair can handle without over conditioning. Humectants use may need to be cut out entirely or severely limited.
Dew Point 15-30 F: Dry, add moisture and emollients. Limit or cut out humectants.
Dew Point 30-40F: Can be Iffy, some people can tolerate more humectants. Others cannot, very trial and error in this range.
Dew Point 40-60 F: Prime curly range. You should get some curl without the summer frizz. Find balance between moisture and humectants that work for you.
Dew Point 60F and up: You need to find moisture/humectants tolerance that works for you. Some of you will be able to tolerate humectants. Those of you with porous hair may start to see humectants induced frizz at this range and especially once the dew point fits 70. Those who get humectants induced frizz may want to look into anti-humectants to keep that muggy weather out of your hair.
Humectants are molecules that possess atoms and groups of atoms that attract and bind water to themselves. They can have benefits and drawbacks for curly hair, and their performance is often very dependent upon the amount of moisture in the environment. Applied to the hair humectants draw water to themselves from whichever source is greater either the atmosphere or the hair so be careful
Anti-Humectants must not be hygroscopic, meaning it must not possess molecular traits that cause it to attract water molecules to itself. It must be water-repellent, which necessarily means insoluble in water. This property allows it to lock out or prevent the intrusion of moisture into the hair from a humid environment. Additionally, these ingredients typically coat, flatten, and seal the external cuticle layer of the hair strands.
So what did I learn? I’ve learned is that Temperature, Humidity and Dew Point are tools we use to learn how much water vapor is in the air which just means how much moisture is in the air. I know that I will have an awesome hair day if the humidity percentage is below 45 and if the dew point is in between 40-60 F. Yes my app can easily tell me if it’s going to be an optimal or frizzy hair day and what products I should use. But, I am the type of person that needs to understand the difference between a good and bad hair day. I hope this helps someone no one should have a bad hair day.
Related articles
- Summer hair (confessionsofladyv69.wordpress.com)
- 5 Tricks For Humidity-Proofing Your Hair (bellasugar.com)
Hair & Now 